Reaching for Dreams
by Vol lady
Summary: AU – Follows Making a Rancher and Building an Empire. Jarrod and Nick have adjusted to each other and their roles in the Barkley empire after Tom's death, but now Heath's arrival upsets the apple cart one more time.
1. Chapter 1

Reaching for Dreams

Spring 1876

Chapter 1

Jarrod remembered happily pocketing the $1500 he had won from Hannibal Jordan's man Crown on the train, as that cowboy rode fast on horseback and beat the train to the crossing. That cowboy who now sat on that horse in front of him and his brothers. "He did me a favor today. Sign him on, Nick," Jarrod said.

Nick grumbled, not ready to tell that he'd already had his own meeting with this kid that ended with them both dumped into the river, but he told the kid who to report to. Nick was miffed, because Jarrod usually deferred to him on hiring matters. But it was Jarrod who officially had the last say, and overall, the system worked, so Nick knew he shouldn't even be complaining to himself. Still, as the kid rode off to the bunkhouse, Nick turned and scowled at his brother. "Happy?" he said.

Jarrod took his wallet out. It always took an extra moment, Jarrod having to struggle with one hand, but he took out the $1500 he'd won from Crown, peeled off $500 and gave it to Eugene, and another $500 he gave to Nick. "He won me some money off that railroad man Crown. Does this ease the sting of my bossiness a little bit?"

Eugene was grinning. Nick pocketed the money, still grumbling. "Sorry," he said.

Jarrod put his wallet back into his inside jacket pocket, then gave Nick a slap on the back. "I know I'm a pain, Nick. But the kid made my day, and from the sounds of things with our neighbors, this may be the last day any of us is feeling very good for a while."

"What are we gonna do about that, Jarrod?" Eugene asked.

"I know what I'd like to do," Nick said.

"I know, and you may get the chance," Jarrod said. He had long ago recognized that Nick was growing a quick temper as he grew up, and after their father was killed, he saw that itch in Nick to jump into a fight, any fight, was increasing. "I saw Mill Woods when I got into town. He already knew about the notices the railroad sent around, and he's already working to get injunctions. If he's going to get them, he'll get them today."

"And if he doesn't?" Nick said.

Jarrod said, "Then we'll be standing with our neighbors, tonight and in the morning, and you might get that fight you've been itching for since they killed Father."

Nick was a little surprised to hear Jarrod so ready to fight. That wasn't normally his way. He always tried everything he could to get things done without one, but this time – "Have we run out of legal options, Jarrod?"

Jarrod nodded. "If Mill can't get the injunctions, yes, we have."

They went back inside the house, Jarrod heading straight for another glass of scotch, Nick for the whiskey, Eugene declining a second glass. Nick said, "You said 'we' would be standing with our neighbors. Are you planning to go with us this time?"

Jarrod hadn't gone with Nick and their father six years ago, when Tom Barkley was killed. There were plenty of reasons – with only one arm, he couldn't use a rifle or load a handgun quickly, and facing a battle was something that still made him freeze inside. Moreover, his father had said something that came back to him now - _You're this family's future. You have to survive. _All of that was still true, except that over the years Jarrod had adapted more and more to being one-handed. Even though he still couldn't handle a rifle very quickly, he had learned how to reload a six gun faster. He had also learned to cope with the memories from the war that made him hesitate at the thought of a battle. And he had learned that his mother's view of what he should be doing when a fight came along was different from his father's view.

Victoria was not willing to put the family's future entirely on her oldest son's shoulders. She had come to know darned good and well that even if the worst happened, even if the fight should take all her sons, she could run this business herself, this empire her sons had built even bigger than she and her husband had. She had studied, and she had learned, and she was quietly teaching Audra what she knew. There were more gold mine interests since Tom had died, even silver mines. More fruit orchards and vineyards and even interests in freight companies and an engineering firm. Freight was a business Victoria was well familiar with since before she was married. She already had a head for business in general, and by now had gotten to know more about all the family businesses than her sons realized.

The engineering firm was Eugene's idea. His brothers had kept him involved in the family businesses, at least peripherally, but on his own he had developed an interest in building roads and bridges, and everyone suspected that was what he wanted to study when he went off to college. The family was ready to support him completely. Every one of them saw the future coming on fast, better roads and bridges and even horseless carriages that would run on them. The world Eugene would be involved with building was going to be far different from the world they knew now, and bigger than this valley here.

But this valley here was what mattered right now. "Are you planning to go with us this time?" Nick had asked.

Jarrod knew that his mother expected him to fight with his brothers if the need arose, and he nodded. "I am."

"They could hit Sig's place tonight," Eugene said. "Midnight, the notice said."

Jarrod hesitated, but then he said, "Nick, can you get some men over there? I really don't think they'll hit him, but if you can send half a dozen or so over there to back him up, it'll help."

Nick nodded. "I'll go talk to McColl."

Nick went out, heading for the bunkhouse. When he went inside, he found that kid, that Heath, still talking with the foreman. Something about that kid bothered Nick a lot, and not just that confrontation with him on the bridge over the river. Maybe his explanation of where he had been working – it didn't explain why he came here and didn't just stop for a job between here and his last job in Corning, a long way off. Maybe it was just his attitude. Maybe it was just his looks.

Heath looked up when Nick came in the door, and Nick saw it. It was his looks. They were familiar, too damned familiar.

"McColl, I need you send half a dozen men over to Sig Swensen's place," Nick said. "I need them there well before midnight, and send somebody now to let Sig know they're coming."

"Trouble, boss?" McColl asked.

"Looks like it."

"Heath, you up to this?" McColl asked.

But Nick quickly said, "No. I want you here tonight, boy. Put him to work mucking out stalls for the time being." With that, Nick turned and left.

XXXXXXX

By the end of the evening, after dinner and before the men who were going to Swenson's were to leave, all hell broke loose. Nick had had one drink too many and went after that kid, that Heath. He dragged him out of his bed and into the stable and they fought like hell until Nick pounded out of him that this Heath thought he was Tom Barkley's bastard son.

Nick woke up the house, dragging the boy into the library and yelling for Jarrod and even Eugene. Still awake, Jarrod tried to keep a lid on the noise and the pandemonium. He didn't want his mother to hear what was going on. But she did hear, and so did Audra, and by the time it came for men to go off to Swenson's, there was enough craziness going on around here that McColl held them back. It was a mistake.

The word came by one a.m., after the Barkley men had given Heath the heave-ho. Swenson had been hit by the railroad goons. All the Barkley men, the brothers and the workers, were over there as soon as they could get there, helping to put the fires out. Luckily, no one had been killed, but by the time Victoria herself rolled up in a buggy, the whole place was burned to the ground.

Shortly after Victoria arrived, Audra rode up, with this Heath, this young man who was supposed to be Tom's son. Victoria wondered why they were together, but she lost her concern when she got her first good look at him. It dropped her heart to the ground. This boy looked more like Tom than any of her sons did. She saw him turn and ride out fairly quickly. She went after him.

She found him grabbing the money Jarrod had offered him but he'd rejected earlier, and some apples from the house. She stopped him. She told him about her husband. She told him, without telling him, that she believed he was her husband's son, and she told him what she expected of him now.

Heath was stunned by everything she said. He had been ready to ride out and put this place behind him, but what she said – _fight as he would fight and no one can deny you his birthright_ – screamed through his brain as he tried to get away. And he couldn't do it.

He put the apples in his saddlebag and mounted up, but then he hesitated. He looked back at that house. "Who is that woman?" he actually asked out loud, talking to his horse as he did now and then when no one was around. "Did she just say what I think she said?"

His horse whinnied, as if she knew he was talking to her, as if she understood what he was saying. Maybe after all this time together, she did understand.

Heath patted her neck. "What do you think, beautiful? Is she really saying she wants to let me in, if I'm ready to fight for it?" Heath chuckled. "What do you think those sons of hers would think of that?"

His horse whinnied again and moved sideways, anxious to get going.

"All right, all right," Heath said. "Let's go see what they think of it."

He knew where everyone would be in the morning – at Frank Sample's place, ready to fight the railroad goons this time. So he went there, and he rode through the goons' line and put himself on the porch beside these men who were his brothers. Even the one with just one arm was there, and he was doing the talking. When eight o'clock rolled around and the shooting started, Heath was shooting right along with everyone else, even if he wasn't entirely sure yet why he was doing it.

Nick and Heath both saw something – one of the goons taking direct aim at Jarrod. _Dear God, just like with Father,_ Nick thought and fired at the man desperately. Both Nick and Heath fired at him, but he hit Jarrod first, and Jarrod went down, falling on his only arm that was now wounded. Nick and Heath both fired again and missed again. It was Jarrod who came back up, fired even with that wounded arm, and hit the man who had shot him. Heath paid attention to that. Heath remembered that.

The fight went on, but it really didn't last long, only minutes, and the place was littered with dead and wounded when it was over and the surviving railroad goons rode away. Heath noticed that Jarrod didn't even favor the wound in his arm, though what he was going to do if it was incapacitated, Heath couldn't figure. He got an answer of sorts when Jarrod walked up to him and handed him a cigar, because he was shaking too hard to roll a cigarette for himself. The one-armed man, bleeding in the only arm he had left, was steady as a rock, and he smiled.

It was clear pretty quickly that Jarrod was going to be at least hampered, at least for a while. He started to weaken from blood loss. Heath himself got him home and Victoria and Audra tended him, bandaged the arm, fretted over the nightmare that now Jarrod Barkley had no arms available at all.

"Don't worry," Jarrod said, declining a sling. "It'll hurt but it'll heal. I'm not going to lose this one."

Out of nowhere, Heath found himself saying, "I'll be your spare arm if you need it, Jarrod."

Jarrod had another smile for him, and a slap on the back. "I think we have a lot to talk about, Heath."

Nick and Eugene came in within a few hours. They had stayed to help out at Sample's farm. Sample was dead. Sheriff Lyman was dead. Ten other men were dead and so were a lot of the railroad men. But the fighting wasn't over.

The fighting at the Barkley mansion had just begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Tom Barkley died, he left the ranch to Jarrod in name, with a life estate to Victoria, but Jarrod knew what Tom would have expected of him. Decisions concerning the family-owned businesses had always been by family vote because the businesses were owned by the family members (in trust for Audra and Eugene until they turned twenty-one). Jarrod talked to the family shortly after Tom was buried, and they decided together that who lived here, who came and went into this house and this family, except for new spouses, would be a family decision. The decisions that affected all of them would be made by family vote, so when the family was together again after the fight, when Heath was together with them, it was clear the subject of Heath was before all of them.

There was yelling, there was screaming. There were blows and near blows. There were verbal attacks and verbal defenses and at one point Audra even got between Nick and Heath and started yelling, "Will you stop it? There's only one thing that matters here! Heath proved himself!"

"Proved what?" Nick asked. "That he could fire a gun?"

"That he could fire a gun beside us after we threw him out, Nick," Jarrod said. "And look up at that picture."

Jarrod nodded toward the fireplace and the portrait of their father there. Nick had not looked at it at all and did not look now.

Jarrod took a deep breath before he said what he said next. "Mother, Audra, it's time for very plain speaking, and I'm sorry if this hurts you, but – "

"Don't say it, Jarrod," Victoria asked. "I have no illusions, and I know better than any of you what kind of difficulties my marriage to your father ran into over the years. We loved each other, and when we had problems we worked them out and forgave each other. No marriage is perfect, though, and neither was ours." She looked at this newcomer, this Heath, this boy she had practically single-handedly talked into staying. She said nothing about that conversation, though. That would stay private between her and this boy, this son of her husband's that wasn't hers.

But she wanted him to be hers. His willingness to fight beside his brothers had proved to her that he was Tom's son, just as much as his resemblance to Tom had proved it to her. And she wanted more of Tom. He had been gone for so long and she missed him so much. Here was a piece of him that walked up to the door and, just like Tom would have done, demanded to be part of this family. This Heath was Tom all over, and Victoria wanted him.

Jarrod could understand that easily, without her even having to say it. Nick and Eugene just couldn't even consider it – it was beyond their understanding to even think of. There was yelling, there was screaming. There were blows and near blows, and it was when Jarrod got straight into Nick's face and started to raise his wounded arm that Victoria got up and yelled, "Enough!"

Heath stood by the fireplace while Nick got out of Jarrod's reach and stood by the desk in the corner of the room. Jarrod may have been the chief executive of the Barkley enterprises, but Mother still wielded a Mother's authority and everyone listened to Mother.

Victoria stayed beside her oldest son, and addressed him. "I want to give Heath a chance," she said flatly. "Jarrod – it's a family decision, but we'll hear from you first, since you're the one who's running this whole operation of ours."

Jarrod looked at Nick, who turned away. Eugene and Audra just looked back at him when he looked their way. When he looked at Heath, he saw defiance, defense, but something else, too. He saw that Heath was deferring to Victoria in this. If she said to go, he'd go. If she said to stay – and she had said for him to stay – he was going to keep fighting to do it.

Jarrod said, "It's really undeniable, isn't it? He looks like Father. He has Father's backbone. He fought beside us this morning when all he had to do was ride away and be out of danger. I'm with Mother. If Heath wants to stay, I say we give him a chance."

Audra quickly said, "So do I."

Eugene looked to Nick, then to Jarrod. He was torn. He could see that if he sided with his mother, Jarrod and Audra, that Nick would be standing alone. Nick would feel not only ganged up on. He'd feel abandoned. Eugene said, "I don't know."

Jarrod understood what Eugene's misgivings were. He looked at Nick. "Nick, let's consider something else going on around here. Eugene is not a rancher, and we could use another rancher."

Nick looked up, and Eugene looked even more surprised.

Jarrod smiled at his youngest brother. "Gene, I love you, but this ranch is not the place for you. You've talked about becoming an engineer, and that's where you belong. You're reaching for dreams. That's where the future is for you, not here on a horse." Then he looked to Heath. "Heath – what is your future? You're reaching for dreams, too. You've spent your life working the ranches and whatever else it took for you to survive, but what do you want for yourself? All right, a part of it all, like you said, a part of everything Barkley, but are you willing to be a rancher, or is there something else in your future, as you see it?"

Heath was quiet for a moment, before he said, "I don't know either. I just know that I want to work for something I can help build, not just a dollar a day wage. It hasn't just been ranching I've been doing, but ranching is what I love the most. A ranch is where I feel like I belong, at least at this point in my life."

"When you say you want a part of it all," Jarrod said, "you know there's a lot more to this enterprise than ranching. There are mines and vineyards and freight handling."

"And I've done those things too," Heath said. "I'm willing to work hard and learn more, but I want to be working for something. I want to have part of it all, but I want to _be_ part of it all, too, Jarrod. Maybe I haven't been so good as saying that, but that's what I mean."

They all looked at Nick again. It was getting late now, well past the time they should have been going to bed. They were all tired. Nick saw all that in the faces of his family members. He looked at Heath. "If you stay," he finally said, "we expect work out of you. _ I_ expect work out of you, as much as I expect it out of myself."

"You'll get it," Heath said.

Nick looked at Jarrod. "And where do you expect him to fit into this hierarchy of ours? You and me, we've had our struggles putting it together and making it work. If this boy stays, he's gonna want a part in that too. Where are you gonna put him?"

"If you're afraid I'm going to put him ahead of you, Nick, that's not my intention," Jarrod said. "I do intend for him to learn what you've learned, to be a ramrod in the field like you are and to learn the business like you've learned it. Until we see what he really has a head for – "

"Until we see if he really works out," Nick interrupted.

Jarrod nodded. "Until we see those things, we won't know for sure where he fits in. But you and I have worked things out between us. We can figure out where Heath goes, too."

Nick did not nod an agreement, but he at least didn't object.

Jarrod looked at Heath. "Are you willing to follow that plan? Are you willing work as hard as you need to work and learn what you need to learn? Being a Barkley isn't putting your feet up and drinking mint julips on the verandah. Being a Barkley is hard."

"I'm no stranger to hard," Heath said.

"Then we get at it first thing in the morning," Nick said, "and Jarrod, when you're not out in the field, this boy is mine, and I'm gonna see he learns what he needs to learn."

It was Heath who nodded first. "Fair enough," he said.

Jarrod nodded next, then looked at Eugene. Eugene finally nodded, too.

Victoria said, "Heath, get your things from the bunkhouse. I'll take you to your room. You'll live here from now on."

They finally broke up. Heath went out to get his belongings. Audra and Victoria went upstairs to see which room they'd put him in. Nick just sighed and went on up to bed. But Eugene lingered with Jarrod.

"Is something wrong?" Jarrod asked him.

"Did you mean it when you said my future was in engineering?" Eugene asked.

Jarrod nodded. "Yes, I did. I want to send you off to college in the fall. I've talked to Mother about it, and she wants to do it too. We just hadn't had a chance to talk to you about it."

"You don't mind that I don't want the ranch?"

Jarrod's smile grew a little wistful. "I didn't want it either, Gene, but fate dealt me a different hand. You're like me. I could see it since you were a little guy. I want you to have your dreams, even if I couldn't have mine."

"You know, Pappy – maybe you should consider trying for the law again," Gene said. "If you still have your dreams."

Jarrod chuckled. "Not right now, not with the turmoil going on around here right now. Besides – over the years, I've kind of lost the need for that dream. Taking over the Barkley businesses after Father died, hammering things out with Nick before that and after that, now our new brother coming into the mix – I've been too busy to think about it, and I just don't need to anymore. I like what I'm doing. I like being a rancher and a businessman. I don't need to be a lawyer anymore. I guess the dream just changed."

Eugene shrugged a little.

Jarrod could tell his kid brother was still too young to accept the notion that your dreams could change. He still had his and they were still strong. Jarrod smiled at him. "Dreams do change, Gene, but not always. You follow yours as long as they pull on your heart. Maybe someday yours will change too, but until then, I'm with you on being an engineer. You have me and the whole family behind you on that."

Eugene threw his arms around his oldest brother, and Jarrod put his arm around Eugene. "Thanks, big brother," Gene said. "You won't regret it."

"I know I won't," Jarrod said. "Don't worry about any of this. I'm pretty sure this is all gonna work out just fine, and even Nick is gonna realize that before very long."

"I hope so," Eugene said, pulling back. "I can see Mother really likes this Heath fella. I want to like him too, for her."

"You saw him out at Sample's today, Gene," Jarrod said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you end up liking him for himself, just like Nick will."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The fight with the railroad died down again. Jarrod got word from his former firm in San Francisco that the railroad was at least suspending their plan to build another spur that would disrupt the valley. How long it would stay suspended was anyone's guess, but Jarrod made sure that his informant passed on some information to the Coastal and Western - you won't do a thing without another fight. Get used to it.

As the Sample family and the Swensen family began to put their lives back together again, the Barkley family began to adjust to its new reality, but it was a rocky start. Victoria saw it happening fairly quickly, the jockeying for position between Jarrod and Nick over Heath. Just like when Jarrod first came home and took over as Tom's second in command, supplanting Nick. Granted, Nick had given it up willingly – at least partly willingly – but they still spent years trying to figure out who would do what and who was in charge when. The relationship solidified, and became even more settled and solid after Tom died. Jarrod became Tom. Nick became the Nick he'd been when it was just him and Tom working the ranch and the business. It had all worked out.

But now – now here came Heath, and it was like a slow, rumbling earthquake that didn't take any buildings down or crash chandeliers onto the floor but just kept everything rolling and kept everyone's footing uncertain. Heath's presence seemed to send Jarrod and Nick back into that uneasy command structure Victoria thought they had worked out long ago. She could see what the real problem was – Jarrod was still the man in charge, but now Nick was feeling threatened in his second in command position again, just as he had felt threatened when Jarrod first came home from the war. And took his place.

From Victoria's point of view, Nick's feelings were unfounded, even ridiculous. To think this newcomer, several years his junior, could just move in and shove Nick out of his place was foolish. Certainly Jarrod wasn't promoting that or even acting like it was happening.

"But to Nick, it is happening," Victoria explained to her oldest. She had decided, after Heath had been there for a month, that she needed to be sure Jarrod saw what was happening. While Nick and Heath were out in the field and Jarrod was tending to the books in the library, she started the conversation she felt like she had to have with him.

Jarrod put his pencil down, closed the book he'd been writing in, and got up from the desk. He wandered toward the fireplace while his mother just stood where she was, in front of the desk. He turned around to face her. "I know it's been awkward, Mother," Jarrod said, "and I've been able to see how uncomfortable Nick is, too. But I try to settle him down, and it works for about an hour and half, but then something happens – I say something about wanting Heath to go to one of the mines, or I ask him to let me explain something about the books. Nick feels like I'm yanking Heath out from under him. He feels like he's the one who should be Heath's boss, not only out on the range, but in everything. I haven't been able to shake Nick out of that feeling."

"Have you noticed how Heath has been reacting to this?" Victoria asked.

"It varies," Jarrod said. "I don't know how he's acting with Nick when I'm not around, but when I am, sometimes he backs off and lets us parry it out. Sometimes he puts his two cents in about what he ought to be doing. He's trying to find out where he fits in as much as we are. But Mother, it's only been a month. Look how long it took for Nick and me to work our arrangement out."

"I know," Victoria said, "but you were brothers from the start. You both had a vested interest. Heath is still wondering if he has an interest at all – if you're going to let him have one or if he's going to have to keep fighting for it."

"Well, for a while, he's going to have to have it both ways," Jarrod said. "Sometimes he's going to have to fight for it. Sometimes he's going to get an interest handed to him."

"Have you talked to him about how he thinks things are going?"

"Not yet," Jarrod said. "Have you?"

"No," Victoria said, "it's not my place. But it is your place. Maybe you ought to have a talk. It's been a month. That's not a bad time to start a conversation."

"I need to talk to Nick first."

Victoria wondered why.

"Pecking order, Mother," Jarrod said. "One thing we better have settled among all three of us is the pecking order. Nick needs to be ahead of Heath in that order, so I have to talk to him first."

Victoria nodded. "You're right. But there's also someone else you'd better be considering."

Jarrod nodded. "Gene. Mother, Gene knows he's going to school in the fall. I've talked to him a couple times, and he knows that's where his future lies. He's more an observer to this little dance Nick and Heath and I are doing. He's keeping his head down and getting ready to move on in his own life."

"Yes, he is," Victoria said, "but he still has a place in this family and in this business, and you best not cut him out of it too soon. He's taking sides."

That surprised Jarrod – but then again, it didn't. "Nick," he said. Gene and Nick had always been close. Even if Gene favored Jarrod more in temperament, he'd spent more of his life and time with Nick. "I'll talk to Gene, too. Don't worry. I'll handle it."

Victoria came closer to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I know this wasn't the life you bargained for, but you've handled it beautifully. I don't think I've let you know how much I've appreciated your help with all your siblings over the years, and I've appreciated how you've listened to me and how you've kept our dreams alive." _Even when yours were taken away_, Victoria thought but did not say. He didn't need to be reminded so plainly.

Jarrod smiled. "Lovely Lady, you are my rock and my inspiration. I think we've made a team Father would be proud of."

"And so have you and Nick, and I know Heath will be a good part of that team too."

XXXXXXXX

"You fired Barrett," Nick said to Heath as they pulled into the stable yard and dismounted.

Heath didn't like the sound of Nick's voice. He had become used to giving orders to crews that were put in his care out there. Nick seemed to be all right with that. But this was the first man he'd fired for not working, and Nick didn't like it. "I found him asleep on the job," Heath said. He didn't say how much trouble the man had been from the start, how reluctant he'd been to do anything Heath ordered. Because Heath was the bastard around here, and when Barrett said it to his face, Heath fired him.

"I hired him back," Nick said.

Heath froze.

"We need him," Nick said. "We have a drive coming up and one helluva lot of cattle to get to market. You find a man asleep on the job, you get him up and working. You don't fire him."

Jarrod walked in on the conversation and took stock. He saw the resentment in Heath's eyes, and the bossiness in Nick's. He knew immediately that what Nick was saying was _You don't fire him. I do the hiring and the firing around here. _And even though, officially, it was Jarrod who did the hiring and the firing, he had come to let Nick do it as a practical matter. Nick was the one who worked closely with the men and knew what was going on best. He was the one who had been calling that shot for several years. Jarrod would almost always rubber stamp Nick's decision.

Heath left, taking his horse to be groomed and rested. Nick dunked his head into a watering trough to cool off. "Nick, we need to talk," Jarrod said.

"About what?" Nick asked.

"About how things are going," Jarrod said. "Or not going."

Nick glowered. "Just what do you mean by that?"

"You know, when I first came home from the war and you and I were figuring each other out, I used to think that Father had to be blind not to see that we were struggling and why didn't he just jump in and fix it," Jarrod said. "It was a long time before I realized it wasn't his problem to fix."

"What the hell are you talking about, Jarrod?" Nick asked, his patience growing short.

"You and Heath have to work out how you fit in together. He's not just another cowhand, Nick. That's new to him, and it's new to you, too. He has to figure out how to be a boss, and you have to figure out how you're gonna help him do it."

"_Help_ him? Jarrod, when you're not out here, I am the boss, and that's all there is to that."

Jarrod shook his head. "That's not all there is to it, Nick. You've taken charge, but you've put him in charge of certain crews, and when he's in charge, he's in charge. You'd better let him be. I've watched him work his men when you're not around, Nick. He's doing a pretty good job, and he's not gonna fire a man lightly. When he fires a man, you'd better figure out how to back him up, not cut him off at the knees. Isn't that what I've done for you?"

Nick was about to snarl, but then he remembered that Jarrod was right. Jarrod did back him up, pretty darned faithfully. It was a system that was working, and Nick realized he ought to try to work out such a system with Heath. Nick eased off. "All right. Maybe I ought to let him call the shots when it's a crew he's bossing. But overall, Jarrod, when you're not out here, I'm running things, just like you did when Father wasn't out here."

Jarrod nodded. "We had a lot of trouble making up the rules, but we did it. You and Heath will do it too and a lot of what we worked out will work out with him – but you might end up making some different rules."

"Now, what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not even sure yet, except I know one thing. You and I have always been different from each other. I see the world one way, you see it another. We worked out a system of running this place that worked for us. You and Heath – you're far more alike than you and I are, or were. You look at the world the same – get this ranch running and running properly is behind what both of you care about, all the time, and you have to work out how that's gonna get done between the two of _you_. I'm just asking you to stay flexible. Let the boy have some rein. Let things be a little different from the way you and I did it if that works better, but back Heath up. Every chance you possibly can, back him up."

Nick heaved a big sigh. Why did Jarrod have to make things so complicated sometimes?

"I want to talk to Heath about it, too," Jarrod said. Then he smiled a little. "Notice that I told you I wanted to do that. I haven't just walked off and done it."

"So?"

Jarrod gave Nick a slap on the back. "Maybe if you feel like you can't back him up on something and have to overrule something Heath's done, you ought to talk to him about it first."

Jarrod headed off to the stable where Heath had gone. Nick got the message – and maybe Jarrod was right. Maybe he ought to adjust his approach. Maybe he owed Heath at least that.

But damn, it was inconvenient.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Heath was coming out of the stable as Jarrod approached it. He'd turned his horse over to the stable hand and was pulling off his gloves, planning to head into the house and wash the smell of cattle off of him and shave and change his clothes. He was aggravated with Nick for hiring Barrett back, because he knew Barrett was just going to be more to handle now. Nick had chosen Barrett over him, making Heath feel like Nick did not see him as his brother and partner but just some employee, and it made him furious. He wasn't particularly happy to see Jarrod coming, either.

Jarrod said, "Heath, a word?"

Heath heaved a big breath. "I really need to clean up, Jarrod."

"It won't take long," Jarrod said. "Will you talk to me for a minute?"

Jarrod nodded toward a quiet corner of the yard, near the far edge of the corral. _At least he's asking, not ordering, even if he's expecting me to do as he asks_, Heath thought, and he went along. When Jarrod stopped by the corral, leaning his one arm up over the top rail, Heath stopped beside him and waited.

"I think Nick made a mistake in cutting you off with Barrett, and I told him so," Jarrod said. "I won't make him undo anything, even though I could, even though I know it makes things even more difficult between you and Barrett, but I wanted you to know how I felt about it."

Heath settled a little. "Thanks," he said.

"When I came back from the war without this arm," Jarrod said, "Father was still alive and in charge, and Nick and I had a devil of a time figuring out where I was going to fit in. You see, before I lost my arm, I was studying law, but the firm I was with, the firm that was preparing me to become a lawyer, told me before I went east that if I came back maimed, they wouldn't train me to be a courtroom attorney. Maimed lawyers don't go over well in court, and I wanted to be a courtroom lawyer, not a glorified clerk. That's what I called it, a glorified clerk. So, I ended up here, being a rancher, and taking Nick's place. At least, that's how he saw it. Heath, Nick settled into the idea that I was to be Father's second in command and he was to be third, but it took us a long, long time to figure out exactly what that meant and how we were going to work together."

"You worked it out," Heath said.

"Yeah, we did, but now you're here, and it's up in the air again. Nick feels threatened, and when Nick feels threatened, he lashes out."

"He ain't the only one, Jarrod."

Jarrod would have laughed, but he knew Heath would take it the wrong way. He just said, "You two are peas in a pod, Heath. Nick and I, we have different temperaments, we had different adjustments to make, but ours is the only map Nick has to go by. He's got to make some adjustments, and so do you. You've always been a cowhand, not a boss. Well, now you're a boss. Work with Nick. Talk to him, especially about things you want to do with the men. He's actually a good boss. He can teach you things you need to know, and he won't always be rough about it. You two, you'll adjust to each other, and I'll try to help when I can but I'll leave you alone when I can't, at least where the men are concerned. In the meantime, is there anything else I can do for you? Anything you want to talk about?"

Heath was surprised at that last questions. "I – I don't know, Jarrod. I haven't thought about it."

"Well, if something comes to you that you want to talk to me about, just let me know, and if you want me to keep it to myself, let me know and I will, but I don't intend to come between you and Nick, not in any way. He'll know I talk to you, and you'll know I talk to him, unless either of you asks me to keep it private, and I hope that won't happen often. That's the best way for us to figure this all out." Jarrod backed away from the fence. "I'll let you go clean up. You smell like a cow."

Heath watched Jarrod walk away, wondering how to digest what had just happened. He knew this man who was now his oldest brother was a big believer in talking, but Heath had grown up an only child, lived his adult life alone. Talking about things to anyone except his horse was a skill he hadn't yet perfected, even though he could see a lot of sense in what Jarrod was saying. Then he saw Nick across the yard, heading for the stable with his horse. He felt aggravated again, and he wondered if he and Nick ever were going to work this out. Maybe Jarrod thought they would, but right now Heath wasn't so sure.

But then he remembered he had allies. Jarrod was one of them, Victoria another, and they were powerful in this family. And then, abruptly, Nick came over to him.

Nick couldn't quite look him in the eye, but he said, "I should have talked to you before I hired Barrett back. I'll do better next time."

Heath couldn't believe it. He hadn't expected Nick to say anything like that. He almost stuttered, but he said, "I should have talked to you before I fired him, I guess."

Nick gave a small smile and a nod, looking at him for just a moment, before he turned and left.

Heath watched him go, then took a big breath. Something important had just happened. They actually exchanged apologies and worked something out between them.

It was good.

XXXXXXX

Nick went one step further the next morning. As he and Heath were heading for the stable, talking about what work would be done today and who would be on what crew, Nick said, "I want to keep Barrett with me today."

Heath felt a stab at first. Did Nick not trust him to handle the man?

Nick went on. "I want to see how he's gonna be with the other men. I want to hear what he's saying to them."

"About me?" Heath asked.

Nick stopped, and Heath stopped. No one was within earshot. "I heard something last night, when I came out to have a smoke. I heard somebody say Barrett was slacking on you because he didn't consider you a boss. I heard he called you a bastard."

Heath had to think about what he was going to say to that. "I thought that was for me to take care of, not you."

"It's for both of us to take care of, if you're gonna be my brother. Maybe you're not so good at understanding what family is yet, but that's rule number 1. We're in things together. I want to keep Barrett with me today because I want to keep an eye on him. And yeah, I'll fire him if I hear things I don't want to hear. I should have backed you up yesterday and let him go."

Heath said, "My fault. I didn't tell you everything."

"Well, from now on, you do. I'll have your back, and I expect you to have mine. Got that?"

Nick moved on then, and Heath went with him. Barrett and most of the other men were already mounted and waiting in the yard. Ciego had Nick's and Heath's horses ready, and as he mounted up, Nick began to yell orders.

"Barrett, Colby, MacLister, Appling! I want you four with me today – we got fence to repair on the east side! Mitchell, Potter, Cramer – you're with Heath with the horses on the south end – Heath, I want them run pretty good a couple times today, I don't want them getting too lazy! We gotta get them in shape for the army by the end of the month! McColl, you have the rest of the men with the cattle on the north ridge! Let's go!"

Heath gave Barrett a glance, but the man rode off with Nick without looking his way. Heath wondered what was going to happen out there today, but he didn't wonder for long. "Let's go!" he repeated to the men who would be working with him, and they took off.

A crew of only two men had stayed with the horses overnight. The herd was not that large since they had sold off a good portion of it before Heath came along, only 15 head left, but a crew double that size would be needed if they were going to exercise the horses today. Heath found the men there and relieved them. They headed back to the bunkhouse without a word.

The horses were lively, attentive, many of them interrupting their grazing to watch the newcomers. Heath knew they were about a mile from the creek. He said, "Let's run them to water, get them loosened up."

The men got the horses moving, even if the horses were not enthusiastic about it at first. This was not breeding stock. There was no stallion with the herd, only quarter-horse geldings, so there was no clear-cut leader, but one chestnut kicked up his heels as they ran and picked up speed. He apparently only needed a little push to get the blood flowing and he was ready to dance. They all moved along faster, some tossing their heads.

It was a short run and they knew it was for water, so they stopped without being halted at the creek and took water. It was a beautiful day.

"Boss, you want me to go check the feed situation?" Cramer asked.

There was a corral and storage unit not far away where they would move the horses to feed them and give them some grooming, to keep them in good shape. Heath noted and appreciated that today he heard "boss." "Yeah, go on," Heath said, and Cramer took off.

Cramer was back within twenty minutes. "Things look good. The feed storage unit is locked and secure, nobody with any amount of legs has been into it."

Heath smiled. "Good. Why don't you take Potter with you and get things ready for us over there? Mitchell and I will move the horses in half an hour or so."

Cramer nodded, fetched Potter, and they were off.

Mitchell came over to Heath. "Looks like it'll be a pretty quiet day," he said.

Heath nodded. "Let's hope so."

"Look, Boss, Barrett's a troublemaker, me and Potter and Cramer know that. He was outta line yesterday. We're not gonna give you any grief. Me – I'm a bastard too. I just don't have the extra problem of being a Barkley bastard." And Mitchell gave Heath a big, proud grin.

Heath had to give it back. He appreciated the words and the attitude, and the recognition that being both a bastard and a Barkley made things more complicated. "Thanks, Mitchell," Heath said. "It's an interesting ride."

Mitchell laughed. "I got a feeling you're up to it, Boss."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Things were easing off for Heath, and at first things were quiet for Nick with Barrett, too. Nick didn't hear a peep out of him for the first few hours they were working on that fence. He was working as steadily as the others, and no one was giving anyone else any grief. There was some idle chatter as they broke for lunch, and Barrett said one or two things Nick couldn't hear, but he ignored that.

Nick was beginning to wonder if Barrett was a problem in general or just with Heath. The man had never been Mr. Cheerful, but he hadn't been too difficult either. He usually did his work even if he'd never been very enthusiastic about it. Was this really a Barrett problem or a Heath problem?

But then it started getting hotter. After lunch, the sweat really began to pour, and Nick started to hear voices get louder. Barrett was beginning to slack and grumble, and Nick realized that he had seen that before in the man. It just never got to the point of being difficult. Nick watched more closely now.

Jarrod came along about an hour after lunch, on horseback but toting half a dozen canteens that Nick started to reach up for from where he stood near the wagon. "This might not be enough today," Nick said. "You maybe better send half a barrel."

Jarrod dismounted. "All right. It is pretty hot out here today, isn't it?"

Nick carried the canteens to the wagon, and Jarrod followed along. Nick had tied his bandana around his forehead, to keep the sweat out of his eyes. As soon as he put the canteens down, he took the bandana off, wiped his face and forehead with it, then put it back on. "Dig in here. Help us out. We could use another hand."

Jarrod chuckled. "If the temperature were lower, I'd do it, but I need to go check on Heath and McColl, too. Heard anything from Heath?"

"No, but I took Barrett today, so maybe there's nothing to hear."

Jarrod gave a look to where Barrett was setting a post, about fifty feet away. "Has he been any trouble?"

"He's getting grouchier as the temperature rises," Nick said, "but Barrett's trouble with Heath is definitely personal."

"Because Heath is illegitimate," Jarrod said.

"So it seems. If Barrett ever proves to be a problem again, he's gone, no matter which one of us tosses him out, but we'll check in with each other on it."

"Good," Jarrod said.

Barrett was watching the Barkley brothers out the corner of his eye. He had been with the ranch a little less than a year. Grouchy by nature, he often found fault, but until Heath was put in charge, he pretty much kept in line. Now, he was more vocal about things he never said anything about before. He resented Heath and he didn't care who knew it. And now, out of nowhere, he said quietly to Appling who was helping to set the post, "Some outfit – a cripple and a bastard running things." Now, Jarrod was irritating him, too, just by being there.

Appling was an easy-going man, a Barkley hand for several years, not one to complain and not one to get his anger up with anyone who was complaining. He just said, just as quietly, "You can always quit if you don't like it."

Barrett grumbled. "Nick's all right. I'd just as soon leave the other two alone."

Appling said, "Jarrod's all right. Lost that arm in the war, and I got respect for any man who did that."

Barrett had successfully avoided the war himself, but he wasn't about to admit it. "Doesn't mean he has any business running a ranch."

"Ease up, Barrett," Appling said, still staying quiet. "It's their ranch. They can do what they want."

Barrett glared at the man, sweat running into his eyes and burning them. He was getting genuinely irritated with everything. "You're too easy, Appling. You're a pushover."

Appling had a long fuse, but he was not about to take too many personal insults. "You can keep your opinions about me to yourself, Barrett."

"I'll say whatever I want to say," Barrett said.

"Do you _want_ to get fired for good? Is that what you're bucking for?"

Their voices were getting louder. Nick and Jarrod heard them now, and they could see the men had stopped working. Nick yelled, "Pipe down and get to work!"

But Barrett's true nature was cut loose with the thoughts of Jarrod and Heath, and the heat. He threw the post aside onto the ground. Appling backed off, not wanting a fight, but Barrett moved toward him.

Nick came running, Jarrod right behind him. Nick got there just as Barrett was getting into Appling's face. Nick pulled him off and threw him aside. "All right, that's enough," Nick said.

"Sorry, Nick, not my idea," Appling said quickly.

"I can see that," Nick said. "My brother Heath had the right idea yesterday. I gave you a chance, Barrett, but it looks like you're too stupid to take it. Get your things together. Jarrod, you got any money on you?"

"Yeah," Jarrod said and reached into his inner vest pocket for his billfold.

"Give him twenty," Nick said.

As usual, it took Jarrod a shade longer than it would have taken a man with two hands to pull out a twenty. Barrett snarled at him, not the right thing to do. Jarrod put his billfold away, but stepped right up into Barrett's face as he handed him the twenty. "Don't show your face around here again, Barrett."

Barrett took the money. "See you in town, War Hero."

That did it. Nick grabbed Barrett by the arm and threw him down like the piece of trash he was. "Get your arse off this property right now, and if I see your face anywhere again I will bash it in."

Barrett gave it up then, retrieving his shirt from his horse, donning it and riding away. Jarrod and Nick watched him go.

"Get some water and get back to work," Nick told the other men, and they headed for the wagon. Nick said to Jarrod, "I should have let him stay fired yesterday. Heath had it right."

"Did you ever find out what really happened yesterday?" Jarrod asked.

"Yeah, I did," Nick admitted. "Barrett wouldn't take orders from Heath and called him a bastard. But Heath didn't tell me that. I overheard it in the yard last night. I think that's one rule we have to make around here. Nobody calls Heath a bastard."

Jarrod had to smile a little. Nick getting protective of their new little brother was a clear indication he was accepting him as one of his own. Nick always protected his own. "Maybe I will pitch in," Jarrod said. "I can still carry a fence post."

Nick gave a grin. "I'd be glad to have you, Pappy, but I'd rather have that half barrel of water."

Jarrod laughed now and gave Nick a slap on his wet, bare back. "Coming right up, Brother Nick," he said, returned to his horse, and headed back to the ranch.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Barrett went into Stockton, and drank and stewed. Now he was mad at all three Barkley brothers, and figuring out how to get back at them and get out of this stinking valley. He thought about where he might go – further south maybe, or even over to Nevada, or maybe just up Placerville or Rancho Calaveras way. As his brain became more foggy, the thoughts of getting even and getting out got confused. He became so unsteady that the owner of the waterfront bar threw him out, and he was left wandering the streets until Sherriff Harris – Harry Lyman's successor – found him passed out in front of the bank and hauled him off to jail.

It was the next morning Barrett woke up and realized where he was. More furious than ever, he started banging on the bars. "What am I doing in here?! Sheriff, I ain't done nothin'!"

Sheriff Harris came in. "I found you passed out in the street last night and dragged you over here. What's wrong with you, Barrett? Did the Barkleys fire you or something?"

Barrett remembered. "Or somethin'," was all he said. "Let me out of here. I'm sober."

"When noontime rolls around," Sheriff Harris said. "Then you best go find yourself another job or move on out of Stockton. I'm not gonna have you spending every night in my jail."

Barrett grumbled. "What time is it now?"

"Going on ten," Sheriff Harris said. "Take a nap."

Sheriff Harris went out, and Barrett sat down on the cot, then lay down, staring at the ceiling. Deciding. Planning. And then remembering.

There was a fourth Barkley brother.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod found Eugene in the garden, reading. It was midafternoon and Jarrod had arranged to go into town, see the family lawyer and get some documents, but now his mother asked him to pick up some things at the dry goods. "I'll go with you," she said.

But Jarrod said, "No, tell you what. Let me take Gene. It'll give us a chance to have that talk we ought to have and he can carry more packages than you can anyway."

Victoria liked the idea. "All right. You will be back by six, won't you?"

"I'm sure we will," Jarrod said. When he found Eugene in the garden, he immediately said, "Get yourself together, little brother. I need your help."

"What?" Gene asked.

"I need to go into town, see the lawyer, pick up some things from the dry goods," Jarrod said. "I need your arms. And I need to pick your brain along the way."

That last interested Eugene. He didn't often get asked for his opinion, and the idea that his older brother, the boss, wanted to "pick his brain" was appealing. Gene got up and headed for the house, asking, "Do we need the buckboard?"

"We do," Jarrod said.

"I'll get it ready," Gene said.

Jarrod smiled as his youngest brother hustled back into the house. He remembered the little kid who looked alarmed to see him when he came home from the war with one arm, and the boy he watched grow up and then had to help raise after their father was killed. Now he was practically a man, going off to study engineering in only a few months. There weren't going to be many more times to just be together. Jarrod liked the idea of taking advantage of this one.

Jarrod never did like trying to drive a rig with just one arm, so he let Eugene take the reins while he settled back with his hat tipped down over his eyes. "What do you want to pick my brain about?" Gene asked almost as soon as they were out of the stable yard.

"Heath," Jarrod said right away. "I've been watching him and Nick sort out this relationship of theirs. Have you?"

"Yeah, sort of," Gene said.

"Have you spent any time out the field with either one of them since Heath got here?" Jarrod asked.

"No," Eugene said. "I've kinda been staying out of the way."

"Intentionally? Do they make you nervous?"

"Not exactly nervous, but I can see how they talk to one another when they're home. You know how Nick can get when he thinks somebody disagrees with him."

"Hm," Jarrod said. "Bossy."

"Do you think they're working it out?"

"In fits and starts, maybe, but I think they're trying," Jarrod said. "But I want to know what you think. I'm concerned that you're concerned."

"Me?" Gene asked. "Why would I be concerned?"

"Because Heath is new to us and things are up in the air," Jarrod said. "Things are uncertain."

"I'm all right," Eugene said.

"Mother thinks you might be starting to take sides."

Gene was surprised to hear that. "What made her say that?"

"Just motherly concern. You know how she can get when we argue."

"I'm not arguing with anybody," Gene said

"I think she just wants to head that off, if it's coming, and so do I," Jarrod said. "So, tell me, what do you think of what's going on? What do you think of Heath?"

Eugene chewed on that for a moment. "I like him well enough. He's not really hard to get along with if you don't push him wrong, but Nick sometimes pushes him wrong."

"Because he gets bossy," Jarrod said.

"He does get bossy," Gene said. "I think Nick sometimes wonders if Heath is about to horn in on his territory."

"Well, I'm sure you've got that right. But Nick and Heath and I have had some talks over the past couple days. I think the two of them are beginning to set up some ground rules."

"It's probably just too early for me to see any," Eugene said.

"Just be careful about choosing sides, Gene," Jarrod said. "I know, you and Nick have been together all your life, so it's natural you want to protect him."

"Nick can protect himself," Gene said.

Jarrod chuckled. "Very true, little brother. I just want to be sure you remember that, and cut Heath some slack. They need space to work things out between them."

"Can't you just tell them what's what?"

Jarrod sighed. "Gene, someday, you're gonna be Pappy of your own brood, so take this as your first Pappy lesson. Sometimes you just tell them what's what, but the older they get, the fewer those times present themselves. It's better to let two men work out their own differences as much as you can, and better to keep from taking sides as much as you can. Nick and Heath are both men. They'll work things out and do better with it if you and I stay out of it as much as we can."

Eugene sighed. "All right, Jarrod, and yeah, Nick can protect himself. And I'm going to be moving on in just a few months anyway."

"Things won't be completely settled between him and Heath by the time you leave for school," Jarrod said. "But they'll be well on the way. You watch."

Eugene just nodded. His big brother was often right about things like this. He hoped he was this time.

They rode into town before very long, and Gene let Jarrod out at the lawyer's office. Jarrod said, "You go on over to the dry goods store and get those things Mother has waiting for her. I don't know how long I'm gonna be here, but you should take longer than I take, so I'll meet you over there."

"All right," Gene said and rolled away as Jarrod went into the lawyer's office.

It wasn't long before Eugene pulled up to the dry goods store and hitched the wagon. He had no idea how many packages would be waiting for him, but he hoped to get everything loaded before Jarrod got here. Carrying things was difficult for his one-armed brother, and chances are Jarrod would have an armload of papers himself. Somehow he never seemed to come back from the lawyer's without an armload of papers. Gene remembered that Jarrod wanted to be a lawyer, and sometimes, like now, he wondered what it would have been like if he had become one. He understood that Jarrod wouldn't have been able to be a courtroom lawyer and he thought it was dreadfully unfair, but on the other hand, it had been good to have his big brother around the ranch as he grew up and not off trying cases somewhere. Gene liked that part. He thought about all those things as he went into the dry goods store.

He didn't spot Barrett across the street, watching him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The lawyer had given Jarrod an amount of paperwork that was too much for him to carry so he lent Jarrod a briefcase, and in only a few minutes, Jarrod was arriving at the dry goods store. He put the briefcase into the buckboard just as Eugene was coming out with an armload of boxes. "How many more?" Jarrod asked.

"Another armload, at least," Gene said. "What is all this stuff? Do you know?"

Jarrod said, "No, Mother didn't say."

Eugene put the packages in the buckboard and went back into the dry goods store. Jarrod adjusted the packages so they were not all in a pile that would fall over as soon as they made a turn. As he was doing that, he saw Barrett, watching him.

Barrett saw Jarrod looking, and he turned and went on his way. Jarrod watched the man mount a horse about a block away and ride out of town. An Appaloosa, Jarrod had seen it before, a nice mount with a spotted left hindquarter. Jarrod wasn't sure why he kept that in his head, but he did.

Eugene came out again with more packages and saw Jarrod looking, a frown on his face. "What's the matter?" he asked and put the new packages into the buckboard.

Jarrod began adjusting them. "I just saw somebody Nick fired yesterday, fella named Barrett. Do you know him?"

"Not really," Gene said.

"Well," Jarrod said, keeping any more concern to himself, "is this everything?"

"Yep, it is," Eugene said.

"Then let's get out of here," Jarrod said.

He climbed up into the buckboard, and Gene climbed in and took the reins. Jarrod didn't lean back and tilt his hat this time, though. Something told him to pay closer attention as they rode home.

There was not a lot of traffic on the road home, and for some reason, as they got to the flatlands just before the last hill they had to climb, a couple miles away from the ranch property, Jarrod felt a nervous itch come over him. Neither he nor Eugene had worn a sidearm to town – they didn't think they'd need one. But now Jarrod wished he had. He didn't know why. He looked around, particularly at that hill ahead of them.

He saw the flash and heard the shot.

He didn't even have time to swear before Gene dropped the reins and the horses took off. Gene slumped over toward Jarrod, and Jarrod couldn't get to the reins before they slipped away like wet spaghetti. It was only a moment later the horses turned abruptly, throwing both Jarrod and Gene out when the wagon started to turn over. The wagon righted again, but Jarrod and Gene were left in the road as the horses ran off with the wagon.

Gene was as still as death. Jarrod grabbed him and dragged him to a small ravine that ran beside the road, and he hunkered down beside him, waiting for the next shot. He watched, he listened. He expected someone to come closer on horseback, but no one did. The only thing Jarrod saw was movement in the trees, where he'd seen the flash of light. Movement of a horse. An Appaloosa.

Still keeping an eye out, Jarrod turned his brother onto his back. "Gene! Gene!"

There was blood on Eugene's chest, just above the collarbone on the left hand side. Frantically, Jarrod checked for a pulse and breathing. Thank God, they were there. Jarrod checked for an exit wound, but there was none. Maybe the bullet still being in there would act as a plug and retard the bleeding, but Jarrod took no chances. He ripped a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it against the wound.

He kept looking. No one was coming. But now Jarrod didn't know what to do. They needed help, but could he leave Eugene here alone and go for it? When he tried to get up, he realized he couldn't. His right arm hurt where he'd hit the ground on that recently healed gunshot wound from Sample's farm. Worse, his knee screamed in pain and collapsed under him. Until now, he hadn't realized he'd twisted it when he fell. He wasn't going to be able to walk anywhere.

Eugene groaned.

"Gene, don't try to move," Jarrod said urgently. "You've been shot. Just lie still."

Eugene didn't say anything else or groan again, but he didn't move either. Jarrod was frantic – what was he going to do? He tried getting up again, but the knee wouldn't support him. He looked around fast for a branch or something to use as a crutch but there was nothing there.

He managed to pull out his watch and check it. It was close to five thirty. He'd told his mother they'd be back by six. Maybe they'd be missed. Maybe someone would be coming for them soon. Maybe those horses and that wagon would even head home and alert someone. Jarrod realized that was an awful lot of maybes, but he had to pin his hopes on them. There just wasn't anything he could do, except stay here and help his brother. His baby brother, the youngest of the brood, the one who was going to go to school and step into the future in just a few months. The one of them who had the most to lose.

Now Jarrod wondered - why would Barrett shoot Gene? Why would anybody shoot Eugene? Eugene had never done anything to hurt anyone at all. No one should be after him, and clearly this was not a robbery attempt, because no one was coming to rob them. This was a murder attempt, but why on Eugene?

Jarrod knew it was Barrett on that Appaloosa, but why shoot Gene? Maybe Barrett had just hit the wrong Barkley, Jarrod thought, but then it didn't matter. All that mattered was they needed help and they needed it soon, or that beautiful future waiting for his baby brother might bleed away in the dust.

XXXXXXX

They heard the wagon coming, rattling wildly, horses running far too fast. As it headed for the stable yard, three of the hands ran for it and grabbed at the horses to slow them down before they crashed into a fence or something worse. They got them under control as Nick and Heath came running from the barn.

Nick rummaged through what remained of the packages and found their lawyer's briefcase. "Jarrod must have gone into town," he said, "but what the hell is this?"

Victoria had heard the commotion from the kitchen and came running out. She saw Nick holding the briefcase and saw the packages. "I sent Jarrod and Eugene into town a couple hours ago! Something's happened to them!"

"We'll find them," Heath said quickly.

Nick put the briefcase back in the wagon, yelling for the men who still had not unsaddled their horses to mount up. He and Heath remounted and led the way out as fast as they could.

Jarrod heard the horses coming, was worried at first but then realized there were so many it wasn't likely to be thieves. Then he saw Nick and Heath coming over the hill, and he slumped, finally able to breathe again. In a moment, Nick and Heath had dismounted and were down beside him.

"What happened?" Nick asked first.

"Gene is shot," Jarrod said. "We lost the wagon. I never saw the shooter, but I'll bet I know who it was."

"Who?"

"Barrett, from up there." Jarrod pointed to where he had seen the flash. "I saw an Appaloosa like Barrett rides."

Nick and Heath looked at each other now, confused. "Why would Barrett shoot Gene?" Nick asked.

"Maybe he hit the wrong man," Heath said. "Are you hurt, Jarrod?"

"Just a twisted knee, but we have to get Gene home and get the doctor," Jarrod said.

Nick started issuing orders – one man to town for the doctor, a couple men to pick up the packages that had fallen out of the wagon, two men to help get Jarrod and Gene up and onto Nick's and Heath's horses. In moments, everyone was moving. Nick had Gene in front of him on his horse, and Heath had Jarrod. Before long they were home.

"Oh, my God," Victoria breathed when she and Audra saw Nick and Heath get a bloody Eugene down off Nick's horse and carry him into the house.

Audra saw that Jarrod was struggling to walk, and she quickly went to support him. "Are you shot?" she asked.

"No, Honey, just a twisted knee and a banged up arm," Jarrod said.

Audra got him into the house, where they saw Nick and Heath carrying Eugene to his room, Victoria following along. Jarrod knew he couldn't make it up the stairs just yet, so he had Audra take him to his "thinking chair," where he sat down. Audra put a pillow on the coffee table, carefully lifted Jarrod's injured leg and rested it there, stuffing another pillow under his knee to support it.

"Thank you," Jarrod said and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll get you some scotch," Audra said.

"You're an angel," Jarrod said. "Someone's gone for the doctor."

Audra quickly brought him a drink. "I'll check upstairs and see if they need anything. I won't be long."

"Take as long as you need," Jarrod said. "Gene comes first."

Audra hurried upstairs, leaving Jarrod with his knee and his scotch and his thoughts. The more he thought, the more certain he was that it was Barrett who had shot Eugene, and he'd done it intentionally, to get back at the other three Barkley men all at once. His temper began to rise up in him. He wanted to have at the man right now – but right now he was not just a man with one arm, he was also a man with just one usable leg. Jarrod sighed. He wasn't even going to be able to go open the door when the doctor got here. He was utterly useless right now, utterly useless.

He finally cursed both his missing arm and his leg, but then settled himself on reality. Whoever had done this, be it Barrett or somebody else, Nick and Heath were going to have to deal with him. Their first real crisis together. Their first real test as a team. Jarrod drank his scotch, closed his eyes, and hoped.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Heath had come downstairs and was there when the doctor arrived, saving Jarrod from having to try to struggle to the door or just yell for Dr. Merar to come in. As soon as the doctor hustled upstairs, Heath came over to Jarrod and sat on the coffee table. "I can take a look at that knee if you can stand long enough to drop your drawers," Heath said.

Jarrod shook his head. "Take your knife out and cut the pantleg. I'd rather not drop my drawers in the living room and these pants are getting thin anyway."

Heath did as requested and had the pantleg cut to just above the knee by the time Nick came down and joined them. Jarrod's knee was swollen, but not too much. "That's dislocated," Nick said.

"Yeah, it feels like it," Jarrod said.

"You want us to pop it back in?" Nick asked.

"Might as well," Jarrod said and braced himself.

It was over in fifteen seconds that felt like an hour, but when it was over, it was over. "Is that better?" Heath asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Jarrod said, breathing hard and sweating but otherwise all right.

Heath looked up at Nick and said, "We got to go get Barrett."

"As soon as we know about Eugene," Nick said. "You think he was aiming at you and hit Gene by mistake?"

"I don't know," Jarrod said. "He might be ornery enough to shoot Gene just to make sure we all felt it."

"I don't think he's that clever," Heath said.

"It doesn't matter much anyway," Nick said. "Whoever he was aiming at, he hit our little brother. As soon as we can, Heath, you and I are heading back up to that hill and we're gonna track whoever did this, whether it was Barrett or somebody else."

"You'd better go get a quick bite to eat, then," Jarrod said. "Dinner is likely to be delayed tonight."

Heath got up as Nick nodded and said, "Yeah," and then he and Heath headed for the kitchen.

Silas was there cooking up a storm – but he already had sandwiches and coffee on the table in the kitchen. "I saw you bring Mr. Eugene and Mr. Jarrod in," he said. "I figured at least the two of you would be going out again soon."

Heath had to grin at one thing he'd noticed around here - Silas's ability to anticipate what was needed, ahead of everybody else. "Can you pack some trail food for us too, Silas?" Nick asked. "We might be needing it."

"Yes, sir, right away," Silas said, and headed for the saddlebags he kept in the kitchen for just such an occasion. As Nick and Heath finished their sandwiches and coffee, he was finishing packing the trail food, coffee pot and cups.

"Wish us luck, Silas," Heath said as he grabbed the saddlebags and coffee equipment, and he and Nick headed out.

"You always have my wishes, Mr. Heath," Silas said.

As they made it to the living room, they saw Audra coming down the stairs. "How is he?" Nick asked quickly.

"He's going to be all right," Audra said. "It's just a flesh wound, no serious damage. The doctor has the bullet out and he's just finishing up."

"Is he awake?" Nick asked.

"No," Audra said. "The doctor plans to have him sleep until morning. He's given him something. You two are going after whoever did this, aren't you?"

Nick nodded. "Right now." And he kissed Audra's cheek.

Heath did the same as Audra said, "Please be careful."

"Tell Mother we'll be back when we're back," Nick said.

"You two, wire us tomorrow from wherever you are if you won't be back by tomorrow night!" Jarrod called from his thinking chair.

"Sure, Pappy," Nick said. "Stay off that leg for a while."

Nick and Heath hurried outside. Ciego, anticipating the likelihood they'd be off again, had saddled them fresh horses and gotten canteens and bedrolls packed on for them. "Be careful, Senores," he told them.

Heath said, "Looks like everybody around here reads minds."

"They read us," Nick said. "This ain't the first emergency we've taken off on. Welcome to the Barkley family."

Heath appreciated the sentiment, but he wished it hadn't happened. He felt bad about Gene, he felt angry with Barrett – because like Jarrod, he was certain Barrett was behind this. And he worried about Nick's temper. As he rode off behind his older brother, he wondered how this first crisis of theirs was going to play out, and he kept his fingers crossed.

XXXXXXX

It was difficult to find a starting point among the trees the shooter had been hiding in, but Heath spotted some crushing in the undergrowth and followed it. He finally saw a place where it looked like a horse might have stood and shifted around for a bit. Heath dismounted and took a closer look. "Here," he said. "There's tracks down in here."

Nick dismounted and squatted down beside him, grateful for the first time that Heath had younger eyes than he did. But he saw them too. "They look like every other track in the world," Nick grumbled.

"Maybe not," Heath said. "I noticed something about the way Yankee shoes a horse. The nails are in pretty close to even, all the way around. That's not easy to do and most shoers aren't that precise about it. Look here. These are Yankee's doing, I'd bet on it."

"So it would be one of our men who was up here," Nick said.

"Barrett counts," Heath said. "Yankee shoed his horse new again just last week."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "You sure do notice things."

"Force of habit," Heath said. "Being out in the world on my own for a while, I got used to paying real close attention to everything that went by."

Nick thought of himself as a man who did that, too, but Heath obviously was even more careful. They stood up. "How long have you been out on your own, exactly?"

Heath smiled a little. "Since I was thirteen and stupid and went off to join in the war. That's when I learned the value of wising up."

Nick chuckled, remembering how his big brother had begged him not to go to war, and he didn't. At the time, and now and then afterward, he actually resented not going, but whenever he heard a man talk about how stupid it was to go – and he'd heard plenty – he'd get a fresh jolt of gratitude to Jarrod for talking him out of it, even if that twinge of "I shoulda gone" remained. But now he said, "Did you learn enough out on your own that you think you can track these for a spell?"

Heath looked up through the trees. "If he goes out into the open. Trees are hard to track in, and we're losing the light. You don't think he'd go back to Stockton, do you?"

Nick shrugged. "He might. He always did lean toward the stupid. But I don't think we ought to head that way unless we can figure out that's what he really did."

They mounted back up, Heath saying, "Well, let's get going and find out."

The tracks led back off the road, out of the trees and into open ground. It wasn't easy to follow them cross-country, but in one way it wasn't hard, either. There were no other shoed horse tracks they came across until they came to the road that led from Stockton to a town called Farmington and via a crossroad, also to a town called, oddly enough, Eugene. They ran out of light about then, though, so they camped for the night, ate and drank coffee and planned.

"Do you think he might have been aiming at Eugene and not Jarrod?" Heath asked when he thought about the name of the town they were heading for.

Nick shrugged. "Like you said, I don't think he's that clever, but we'll find out when we find him. One thing you better know about me, Heath. I don't give up just because the trail's gotten tough to follow."

Heath smiled in the firelight. "I figured that one out on day one, Nick. I'm not one for giving up easy, either."

Nick chuckled. "Yeah, I got that right away, too. I figure we go to Farmington, check it out and see if Barrett's there or he's gone through. Maybe we ought not be banking on Barrett being the one we're after, but I'm like Jarrod on that. I think he's the one. And I'd love to tell Eugene we caught up with him in Eugene."

"Tell me more about the kid, Nick," Heath said. "I just haven't spent enough time with him to know him all that well."

"Oh, he takes after Jarrod more than he takes after me," Nick said. "That's why he's going to engineering school. He and Jarrod both think that in his lifetime, Gene's gonna see the world change a lot and he better be ready to live in the new one."

"How old is he?"

"Only seventeen, be eighteen early next year. Jarrod's thirty-two. He practically raised the boy, so I guess it's no surprise Gene takes after him."

"I don't know, Nick," Heath said. "That boy thinks the world of you, I can tell that."

"Yeah, I know," Nick said. "Jarrod was off at the war when Gene was a little shaver and Gene didn't even know who he was when he came back. And without that arm, Gene had a tough time figuring him out at first. So he kinda clung to me when he was little. But, he never did take to ranching. Just not the life he's wanted."

Heath thought about that. Nick was obviously a little disappointed Gene hadn't wanted to learn the ranching business, but he seemed to be resigned to it. "You can teach me," Heath said, somewhat absently, not even aware he was saying it out loud.

Nick chuckled again. "Brother Heath, I do believe you could teach me a thing or three."

Heath smiled, not just because Nick thought he had something to teach. This was the first time Nick had called him "Brother Heath." Jarrod had called him that almost right away, and Heath decided he liked it. "I doubt it, Brother Nick," Heath responded. "But I'll try."

Nick laughed out loud.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next day found the tracks harder to follow, but Nick and Heath kept on after what they thought were the ones they'd found in the trees. Before too long, they arrived in the town of Farmington, a small place east of Stockton. They were hungry and thirsty and decided to stop for beer and a sandwich at the saloon. It didn't take long for Nick to start talking to the barman. "We're looking for a fella – ornery sort, dark haired, about five ten or eleven, not a skinny guy, doesn't shave very well. Rides an Appaloosa. He'd be out of work, maybe looking for a job, maybe just passing through."

"Got a name?" the barman asked.

"Barrett," Nick said. "Ring a bell?"

The barman thought. "A fella came through here last night who might be your man, but you just described half the men who come in here. I didn't catch this guy's name or see his horse."

"I did," another man at the bar said. "I played cards with him. He got mad and chugged on outta here when he lost. He said his name was Barrett."

Nick and Heath both perked up. They were on the right trail. "Do you know where he went?" Heath asked.

"No," the other man said. "I haven't seen him today, though. What'd he do?"

"Shot our brother," Heath said.

The other man nodded, understanding. "I don't know if he was looking for work or just kept on going, but I'd bet he's your man."

Nick took a swig of his beer. "Yeah, I would too. Thanks."

"Where's the sheriff's office?" Heath asked.

"Outside, to the right about two blocks," the barman said.

Nick and Heath ate in a hurry then headed for the sheriff's office. They weren't sure there would be anything to find out there, but they decided it couldn't hurt to check it out. The sheriff wasn't particularly helpful, though.

"No," he said, "I didn't run into anybody like that, either last night or today, but then unless he got into trouble I probably wouldn't have run into him. What do you want him for?"

"He shot our brother," Heath said. "Over near Stockton. We tracked him here."

"Well, from here he could have gone a couple different places," the sheriff said. "I'd try Eugene first – it's a bit of a dead end, no place else to go, you have to turn around and backtrack to find your way anywhere else. If he's not there, at least you've crossed it off the list. If he comes back here, I'll hold onto him for you."

"Thanks," Nick said, and he and Heath went out and mounted up.

"Eugene ain't that far away," Heath said. "It ain't that big, either."

"You're the traveler," Nick said. "What's your gut telling you? Is Eugene where he went?"

Heath shook his head. "My gut ain't that reliable on something like this, but I think the sheriff's right. We ought to check it out, and he'll grab Barrett if he comes back here."

Nick nodded agreement. "If we don't find Barrett in Eugene, we'll backtrack and plan out where to go next."

"You promised Jarrod you'd wire him by tonight," Heath said.

Nick nodded again. "I will. We don't need Pappy saddling up and coming after us."

"Where did this 'Pappy' name come from, anyway?" Heath asked as they started to ride out of town.

"I might have stuck him with it when I was a kid," Nick said. "But he's been 'Pappy' so long, I'm not sure exactly where it came from. Should I start calling you 'Sonny'?"

Heath smiled, but mostly inwardly. It snuck out in a crooked little smile. "Don't even try it, Nick," he said.

Nick smiled back at him. "Since I already know how rough you can be on me in a fight, I won't."

XXXXXX

Eugene was a tiny bit of a place, with only one church, two saloons, a barber shop, a mercantile and a telegraph office. No bank, no sheriff, no stage or train service, no school. "Well, we won't have to go looking for long," Nick said as he and Heath dismounted outside one of the saloons.

They went into the first saloon and had a beer. The place was empty, even though it was getting late in the afternoon. The beer was more hot than warm. They decided not to risk any food. They described Barrett to the barman, who shook his head. "I haven't had any strangers in here for more than a week. You can try Sandy's down the way, but you'll probably get the same answer."

They did try it, and they did get the same answer. Heaving a sigh as they left Sandy's, Nick said, "Well, let's go send a telegram that we won't be home tonight. I hope everything's all right back there."

XXXXXXXX

Mounting a horse was painful, but not nearly as awkward as getting around with a cane when he only had one arm to lean on and that arm was on the wrong side and still sore. It quickly became too frustrating for Jarrod, and his knee was improving fast, so he gave up the cane by the time dinner rolled around and Nick's telegram came. Silas brought it to the family at the table, and Victoria read it. "That's interesting. They're in a town called Eugene."

"Ironic," Audra said.

"No luck so far, I guess," Jarrod said.

"Apparently not," Victoria said.

Gene was still in bed for another day, but was rapidly improving. Victoria wished they could tell Nick and Heath that, but she couldn't tell from the wire whether they were going to stay in Eugene or move on quickly. Jarrod read something in her eyes. "What's the problem, Mother?"

"I wish I knew where they were going."

"They don't say where they're going next?"

"No, but they do say they'll wire again tomorrow if they're not home."

"Well, we need to give them more time," Jarrod said. "It might take a while for them to find anything."

"Don't worry, Mother," Audra said. "They'll look out for each other."

"Oh, I know they will," Victoria said. "And this will give them some time together they need, too. Maybe they can make something of value out of this dreadful thing."

"Mother," Jarrod said quietly, and Victoria looked up. "Gene is going to be all right. He'll be up and around before you know it."

Victoria gave a sigh. "I know that, and he'll be off to school and in a safer environment before too long. In some ways, though, I worry more about him than I worry about you other boys."

"Why?" Audra asked.

"He's young, and the world is changing. He's grown up here in one kind of life, but he's going to be living in another one. And I don't know anything about it. I can't advise him, and neither can his brothers. He's going to be on his own as soon as he leaves here in the fall. We won't have any idea how to steer him through this new life."

Jarrod said, "Mother, we've guided him pretty well so far. We've prepared him for anything he'll have to face. I mean, look at this shooting. He's never been shot before, but he's not coming apart about it. He knows he's going to get well and be his old self before too long. We prepared him for this. We – _you_ – have prepared him for whatever life he ends up living."

Now Victoria sighed. "I suppose you're right. I suppose I'm just uneasy because – " She thought about it, smiled, and shrugged. "He's my baby."

Audra and Jarrod both smiled and looked at each other. "We all were at one time, Mother," Audra said. "And you can't help but worry about all of us at times, but we're doing all right."

Victoria nodded. "Yes. You are."

XXXXXXX

Nick and Heath camped again at a spot where the road to Farmington met the road from Eugene. As the sun went down, they heard coyotes off in the distance and decided to keep the fire going all night while one of them kept watch and the other slept. Heath said, "Why don't you take the first watch and wake me at about two? I kinda like to watch the sun come up anyway."

"All right," Nick said. "You can start breakfast, then, too."

Heath nodded. "If we go back to Farmington, what do you want to do if Barrett hasn't turned up there?"

"Keep heading up into the hills, I guess," Nick said. "Have you ever been up that way?"

"Once," Heath said. "There's a copper mine town up there, but I don't see Barrett doing any mining. Before we head up there, there's that road right across from here that cuts north, off toward Milton."

Nick thought about it. "Rancho Calaveras is up that way, too. Maybe that's where we ought to head. Up toward Milton and Rancho Calaveras."

Heath chugged down the last of his coffee. "Sounds more like where he'd go than a copper town. If we were to go to Farmington first, we're backtracking and losing time."

"Skip Farmington?"

"Skip Farmington. We can go straight to Milton from here, then Rancho Calaveras. Wire the sheriff in Farmington from Rancho Calaveras to see if Barrett turned up there. Make better use of our time."

Nick grunted an agreement. "You're the one who knows the country. We'll do it."

Heath got up and started putting his bedding together. Nick watched him in the firelight, thinking about how much more this new brother of his knew about the countryside because he had been around more, thinking about how comfortable he looked out here in the wilderness. Nothing seemed to faze Heath much, not the hardships of the trail, not the frustration of not finding Barrett faster, not the prospect of continuing on without any idea of an end plan if they never found Barrett.

Nick thought about that. How long should they keep this up if they couldn't find Barrett? It made him wonder how Eugene was doing, made him worry a bit that he might not be doing as well as they thought. Nick shook the negative thoughts out of his head. He knew he had a tendency to fret, but he also knew he could put it all away fairly quickly, too, and settle down into more of a comfortable way like Heath's. He finished his coffee, put some more wood on the fire, and watched Heath settle down to sleep. The boy was snoring away in only a minute or two. Nick thought there was something pleasant in that sound, in this new brother being out here with him.

Jarrod had said that he and Heath were a lot alike. Nick was beginning to realize how right Jarrod was. He was beginning to like it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Heath had coffee going even before the sun came up, and he settled in with his back against the underside of his saddle to drink a cup and watch the dawn. The sun was barely a dot above the mountains when Nick fetched a cup and sat down on a nearby rock, saying, "It looks like it's gonna be a nice day."

Heath sipped. "It'll be a nice day if we can figure out where Barrett is."

They were quiet again for a while before Nick said, "I really was wrong when I didn't back you up. You were right to fire him."

Heath stewed on that for a moment before he said, "I was really wrong when I didn't talk to you first. I just lost my patience with the man."

"And I understand why you did."

"Next time, I'll talk to you first."

"We can get a better communications system going, you and me," Nick said. "It would shock the heck out of Jarrod."

Heath chuckled. Then he said, "We probably ought to touch base at the end of every day, just let each other know what we're doing, how things are going. Let Jarrod know what we're doing."

"Not a bad idea," Nick said. "Let's do it, soon as we get back."

"But you're still Jarrod's second, Nick, as far as I'm concerned," Heath said. "When he's not around, you're in charge. You got the last word. I got no problem with that."

Nick sipped on his coffee. "It took me and Jarrod a long time to work out how we were going to fit together, just like you and me are doing it. He wasn't supposed to be running the ranch."

"Yeah, I know. He was supposed to be a lawyer."

"Losing his arm messed that all up for him. He wanted to work in a courtroom. He didn't want to be a 'glorified clerk'."

"Can't say I blame him for that."

"Well, it took us a long time to work out a system on how we were gonna run the ranch under Father, but when we did, when Father died, we had a solid footing. We kept things going and even expanded it. I don't see any reason you and me can't just keep that up."

Heath looked at Nick. "That's all I ever wanted to do, Nick – build something, build it as a Barkley."

Nick actually felt proud that Heath had put his own stock in being a Barkley. He nodded. "We'll do it. But first we gotta get Barrett back to Stockton."

"Well, we got kind of a plan. You never know. We might get lucky and find him in Milton or Rancho Calaveras."

Nick nodded. "Or maybe we'll at least figure out his trail. I don't think he knows we're following him."

"Unless the sheriff in Farmington has picked him up already."

Nick shook his head. "There's this thing called the Barkley luck. We've always had it – but I don't think we're gonna lucky enough that the sheriff has him."

"We can wire him and find out in a few hours if we don't get Barrett in Rancho Calaveras," Heath said. "I'm gonna cook up some ham and heat up some biscuits."

"And make more coffee," Nick suggested.

Heath got up. "And make more coffee."

XXXXXXX

Milton was another little bit of a town with no sheriff and one saloon. And no Barrett. Nick and Heath didn't even stay there long enough for another cup of coffee before they moved on toward Rancho Calaveras.

It was late in the afternoon when they got there. Rancho Calaveras was a sizable town, not as big as Stockton but it had several saloons, several churches, a telegraph office, a sheriff and most welcome, a hotel. As they rode past the last building, Nick said, "If we don't find Barrett here, we oughtta get a room for the night, get a good clean up and a good rest."

Heath nodded. "And do some more planning. Where do you want to go first?"

"I'm hungry," Nick said and pointed to a saloon.

They hitched up and went in, and before long they had a steak and beer in front of them and the world was looking rosier. They asked the barman, but the best they could get out of him was Barrett might have been a man who came in the night before and said something about looking for work. Nick and Heath finished their food and drink, planning on checking out the remaining saloons and then seeing the sheriff, wiring the family and checking into the hotel.

Their plans went bust in a happy way when they reached the next saloon and saw an Appaloosa just like Barrett's hitched up outside. They looked at each other and smiled. "How do you want to do this?" Heath asked.

Nick saw the sheriff's office not far down the street. "Tell you what. You stay right here, outside, in case he comes out. You hold him up if he does. I'll go get the sheriff and we'll do this nice and legal. Make Jarrod fall down in a dead faint when he finds out."

Heath gave a laugh, dismounted as Nick rode down to the sheriff's office, and hitched his horse up. Heath lounged up against the hitching rail there, tipping his hat to a couple ladies who went by and stared at him curiously. He gave a glance toward the sheriff's office and saw Nick coming out with the man, heading this way. Heath straightened up, and looked toward the saloon door just in time to see Barrett come out.

Barrett stopped dead when he saw Heath. Indecision ran over his face, like he was trying to decide whether to acknowledge Heath, how to do it if he did, or just take off running. "Afternoon, Barrett," Heath said.

Barrett didn't seem to know what to say. He finally gave a nervous laugh and said, "So the Barkleys fired you, too."

"No, no," Heath said. "Nick and I have been looking for you. You're not surprised, are you?"

Barrett took off running. Heath took off after him, and seeing it, Nick and the sheriff took off after them. People on the street were getting out of the way, taking on that startled look that said nothing like this happened in their quiet little town. Barrett shoved a barrel into Heath's path, but Heath was quicker and more agile than the older man, and he was catching up fast.

Barrett ducked into an alley, and when Heath ducked in on top of him, Barrett had his gun out and fired.

He missed. Heath tackled him and shoved the gun out of Barrett's hand. He and Barrett tangled and Barrett got hold of the gun again. Heath grabbed his wrist and pushed it flat to the ground, trying to shake the gun loose, but Barrett wouldn't let go. The gun went off again.

Nick and the sheriff were entering the alley as it did. They ducked back. The sheriff got the people on the street out of the way, and Nick ran in before another shot went off. Livid, Nick drew his own gun, stamped his foot down on Barrett's hand and got the gun away from him again. Barrett gave it all up then, sagging on the ground with Heath on top of him. Heath began to get up, and Nick pointed his own gun down at the man in the dirt.

Heath wiped dirt and blood from his lip as the sheriff came up to them. Nick smiled down at Barrett. "My brother and I are taking you back to Stockton, to answer for shooting our younger brother."

"You got no authority," Barrett said.

"I do," the sheriff said, reached down and dragged Barrett to his feet. "You'll spend the night in my jail, and in the morning after I deputize these two, they'll take you back where you came from so the sheriff in Stockton can deal with you."

Nick holstered his gun as the sheriff hauled Barrett off. Heath said, "We'll be by in a few minutes, sheriff."

"After that – they got a tonsorial parlor down the street," Nick said. "A bath and a shave sound awful good."

"And a wire home and a room at the hotel," Heath said. "That Barkley luck has worked out pretty nice after all."

Nick slapped his new brother on the back with a laugh. "You're gonna like it."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Nick and Heath spent the evening in Rancho Calaveras in comfortable, happy style. They wired the family about catching Barrett and said they'd be home tomorrow. They got a room at the hotel. They decided that baths and shaves at the tonsorial parlor were worth every cent and more. They bathed in tubs set side by side, smoked cigars as they bathed, and discovered they both knew all the words to "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair" (and sang it with gusto, even if the attendant left the room while they did). A poker game and a few drinks at a saloon, and life was good, very good.

The ride to Stockton the next day was uneventful, even if Barrett was sullen and kept looking like he was going to try to get away from them. He didn't. Once in Stockton, they took Barrett straight to Sheriff Harris and Harris locked him up, but as soon as he got the cell block door closed and Barrett out of earshot, the sheriff said, "I hope you have some evidence it was him who shot Eugene, because he's saying he didn't do it."

"Jarrod saw that Appaloosa of his," Nick said. "That's got to be good for something."

"I'll be talking to the DA," Sheriff Harris said. "I'll see what we can do."

"Have you had any word about how Gene's doing?" Heath asked.

"He's doing fine," Sheriff Harris said. "The doc saw him this morning, has him up and around. The kid's like the rest of you Barkleys – hard to keep down."

"Well, we're gonna head on home," Nick said. "Somebody – one of us or Jarrod or somebody – will check in with you tomorrow to see what the DA said."

"I prefer Jarrod, since he's your witness," the sheriff said.

"Then Jarrod it'll be," Nick said.

When they got home, it was getting late in the day and Jarrod was coming in right behind them. He'd been out in the field every day they were gone and got a big grin when he saw them. "You got him?" he asked.

"We got him," Nick said.

"The sheriff's got him now," Heath said. "He wants to see you in the morning about seeing that Appaloosa."

Jarrod nodded. "I'll take care of it." Then he got a look at his brothers. "Well, now, you two look well taken care of, not at all like you just got in from three days on the trail."

Nick grinned at Heath and then back at Jarrod. "They got a real nice tonsorial in Rancho Calaveras."

"And Nick was the big winner at the poker table," Heath added.

By now, they had all dismounted and given their horses over to the stable hands. Jarrod laughed, took his glove off and stuck it under his belt. "Nice end to a hard job," he said. "It's good to have you home."

"How's Gene?" Heath asked.

"Fine," Jarrod said. "Up and around. Arm in a sling – we're two of a kind for now."

They went inside and found their baby brother in the living room with their mother and sister. His arm in the sling wasn't good for much, but he could hook a skein of wool around both hands while Victoria wound the wool into a ball. He looked bored stiff and as they came in, he was asking, "Why doesn't it just come in a ball in the first place?"

Gene's brothers laughed. Nick said, "Sounds like the kid is doing just fine."

"You're home!" Audra gushed.

"Home, and Barrett's in jail," Nick said. "How are you doing, little brother? Up to snuff?"

"I'll feel better when I get out of this sling," Eugene said. "And I got new respect for how our big brother gets things done with one hand. I'm terrible at it."

"Practice, my boy, and necessity," Jarrod said. "You'd get used to it too."

"Before we get too much into the yakking and the refreshment table, Jarrod, you and Heath and I got some talking to do," Nick said.

"Oh?" Jarrod said.

"Heath and I worked out part of a new system," Nick said. "We decided that one thing we ought to be doing, you, me and him, is getting together at the end of the day and talking about how things are going in our great empire here so we're all singing on the same page in the hymnal."

"We've been doing that," Jarrod said.

"Just now and then," Heath said. "We mean as a regular habit. The end of every day, even if we don't have a lot to talk about, the three of us get together and have a little board meeting."

"And it starts now," Nick said, put his arm behind Jarrod's neck, and he and Heath started to guide him off to the library.

"Can I come too?" Gene asked.

And he had a forlorn look on his face that said _get me out of this wool thing Mother has me doing_.

"And what about us?" Audra asked.

Nick and Heath both looked at Jarrod to decide how large this "board meeting" was going to be. He was the head rancher, the executive decision maker around here. He had the final call on everything.

Even if it had never been in his dreams to begin with, even if it was something he was left with when that war took his arm away, Jarrod knew he was the rancher now and had been for years. Sometimes it still stung that he'd had to change all his plans thirteen years ago, but overall, the way it had worked out was all right with him. He'd never have chosen it, but he was glad it chose him. Running the operation, having the final call on everything, but most of all working with his brothers – it was good, in a lot of ways better than being a courtroom lawyer would have been. And now, seeing that Nick and Heath were working out systems of their own and fitting them into his, he was pretty darned pleased.

"Tell you what," Jarrod said to his mother's "well?" grin. "These workmen and I will get together and devise an executive summary of what's going on around the ranch, and when we get together for scotch and whiskey and wine and talk before dinner, we'll fill the rest of you in and you can tell us what you think. Like a board meeting followed by a shareholders meeting, only a bit less elaborate. And we'll do that every day we're together. How does that sound?"

Victoria smiled. "Very businesslike. Your father would be very impressed." And she looked at Heath when she said, "With every one of you."

Nick said, "Come on," and led the way to the library.

"You know, Mother," Audra said, "you were right. This trip was good for Nick and Heath."

"I just wish I hadn't had to get shot for it," Eugene said.

"We wish the same, darling," Victoria said. "But if you were going to get shot, I'm glad something good is coming out of it. Those boys are starting to look and sound like brothers, aren't they?"

"Barkley brothers," Audra said.

Victoria smiled. "Yes. Barkley brothers. I like it."

The End


End file.
